Newswise — Labeled glass containers full of liquids stirred by spinning magnets are connected to humming machines with neatly organized tubes. Here in this lab space at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), scientists are pioneering ways to extract critical materials from recycled waste products.

Critical materials are essential to modern life because they possess properties that make them difficult to replace. They’re used in smartphones, satellites, computer chips, rechargeable batteries, fighter jets, advanced weapons systems and other technologies. But they can be hard to find; that’s where INL’s research comes in.

The national challenge

The U.S. has deposits of nearly all critical materials, but mining capabilities cannot meet the nation’s growing demand. Most extraction and processing are done overseas, much of it in China. This reliance on foreign critical materials risks supply disruptions that could affect U.S. national security, economic growth and everyday life. After mining, rocks are crushed and processed to separate valuable materials from waste. This step, called beneficiation, prepares the material for further refining. These materials are then concentrated for easier transport and treated with heat or chemicals to fully extract and purify them. However, modern processing isn’t always sufficient and often produces significant waste.

In copper mines, for example, the ore contains up to 0.2% copper, meaning about 99.8% of the rock is discarded. That waste still contains other metals and critical materials, but most processing facilities are only designed to extract one or two materials.

The critical materials in discarded rocks, e-waste and other sources don’t degrade over time and can be recovered. However, the U.S. lacks the infrastructure to recycle them.

Recycling facilities could tap into these largely untouched sources, helping meet U.S. demand. These facilities could be built far more quickly than new mines, which can take over a decade due to permitting, costs and infrastructure needs.

“The U.S. doesn’t recycle well,” said Bob Fox, a senior manager at INL. “There’s a willingness to recover critical materials from recycled sources, but there’s no infrastructure or market for it. Right now, critical materials recycling doesn’t have the economic incentives to drive infrastructure development.”

INL is working to change that by making recycling more efficient, less energy-intensive and economically viable.

“Recycling represents a crucial pathway for the U.S. to obtain critical materials, including rare earth elements like dysprosium,” said Arindam Mukhopadhyay, a staff scientist at INL. “Even critical materials we mine domestically, such as lithium, cobalt, nickel and manganese, can be recovered through recycling.”

INL’s recycling research

Since the early 2010s, INL has developed technologies that reduce chemical use, energy consumption and waste, making recycling more sustainable and cost-effective. These innovations improve recovery from sources such as electronic and agricultural waste, mine tailings and industrial wastewater.

“INL has developed a comprehensive portfolio of critical materials recycling technologies,” said Mukhopadhyay. “We have the expertise and proven processes to help make recycling economically competitive, which is essential for building a reliable domestic supply of the materials our nation depends on.”

One area INL has worked in for many years is biohydrometallurgy, which uses biological systems to dissolve and recover metals. INL’s research examines how microbial populations fed agricultural or municipal waste biomass produce organic acids that break down metals in both metallic and mineral forms. These biologically produced acids dissolve the material and release valuable metals such as rare earth elements, cobalt and lithium. The dissolved metals can then be recovered from the liquid using natural biology-based molecules instead of man-made chemicals. INL’s work is improving the efficiency, effectiveness and affordability of biohydrometallurgy and offers a promising, cost-effective alternative to harsh chemical reagents.

Ether-based Aqueous Separation and Extraction (EASE) uses water-soluble, ether-based chemicals that pull specific materials from mixtures to recover critical materials from industrial wastewater, desalination brines, mine runoff and geothermal fluids. This process uses less energy and fewer chemicals than conventional extraction methods and produces less waste.

Another area of innovation is INL’s electrochemistry work. Electrochemistry uses electricity to trigger chemical reactions that separate and recover critical materials from waste.

Electrons are easier and less expensive to generate than the chemicals required for traditional extraction methods. Electrochemistry can reduce the use of chemicals, some of which can be toxic, by 88% to 90%, and the process uses up to 75% less energy.

Electrochemical Leach (EC-Leach)

EC-Leach uses electricity to cause chemical reactions in liquids to extract critical materials like lithium, cobalt, nickel and manganese. The process was originally developed to extract critical materials from used lithium-ion batteries, but INL is adapting it for mining applications.

Pilot systems show EC-Leach can recover more than 95% of these critical materials. INL researchers are working to scale this technology for commercial deployment.

Electrochemical Recycling of Electronic Constituents of Value (E-RECOV)

E-RECOV uses an electrochemical cell to recover critical materials from electronic scrap. Electrochemical cells use chemical reactions to produce electricity used in electrochemistry. E-RECOV operates at room temperature, uses up to 75% fewer chemicals than traditional processes and doesn’t produce toxic emissions.

The technology has received a TechConnect National Innovation Award and was a finalist for an R&D 100 Award. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Critical Materials Institute supports the development of TechConnect.

Free Flowing Electrophoretic System (FFES)

The FFE unit uses an electric field with tailored ligand systems (small molecules that bind to metal ions) to separate critical materials from complex mixtures into distinct, isolated streams. The device can be moved closer to, or into, mines to separate critical materials from metal-rich liquids.

Electrochemical Membrane Reactor

Researchers at INL developed an electrochemical membrane reactor that removes contaminants from spent lithium-ion battery leachates, the mineral-rich liquids produced during recycling. The reactor recovers more than 95% of valuable metals such as nickel and cobalt using only water, air and electricity. It also produces acid that can be reused in the extraction process. The system has the potential to serve as a cost-effective closed-loop solution for recycling critical materials from batteries.

Improving purity

Most modern applications need critical materials to be at 99.999% purity or higher, but most conventional separation processing can only achieve 85% to 95% purity unless the process is run over weeks or months. INL’s electrochemical work can achieve 99.9999% purity in fewer cycles, dramatically reducing processing time and costs.

Rare Earth Element-Metal (RE-Metal)

RE-Metal is a process that recovers rare earth elements from waste materials using electricity. First, the elements are dissolved using nontoxic solutions. Then an electric current is applied to turn the dissolved materials into solid metal on an electrode.

Other projects include generating hydrogen peroxide from air to help dissolve minerals and separating graphite, copper and arsenic while immobilizing toxic chemicals.

Real-world impact

“Our goal is to make recycling economically viable,” said Mukhopadhyay. “To do that, we’ve focused on reducing chemical use, energy consumption and waste generation while maximizing recovery rates.”

INL’s technologies offer cost-effective options to secure the domestic critical materials supply chain and meet the nation’s growing demand. By advancing recycling and recovery methods, INL helps ensure the U.S. has the materials it needs to overcome current and future challenges.

About Idaho National Laboratory

Battelle Energy Alliance manages INL for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy. INL is the nation’s center for nuclear energy research and development, and also performs research in each of DOE’s strategic goal areas: energy, national security, science and the environment. For more information, visit www.inl.gov.

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Newswise — One of the United States’ most urgent challenges is securing a reliable domestic supply of critical materials and minerals essential for technologies like smartphones, satellites, computer chips, rechargeable batteries and advanced weapons systems.

Although the U.S. has deposits of nearly all critical materials, domestic mining is unable to meet demand, which is expected to grow over the next decade. Most extraction and processing occurs outside the country, particularly in China. This reliance on foreign processing can lead to disruptions that affect national security, economic growth and technological advancement.

“Critical materials and metals are crucial to our daily lives,” said Travis McLing, a subsurface research scientist at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). “However, we depend heavily on foreign entities, jeopardizing our technological leadership and national security. The supply chain needs to be connected and sourced in the U.S. It isn’t enough to mine materials here. We must also produce and refine them domestically. Our goal is to create a resilient supply chain from rock to final product.”

INL is collaborating with eight national labs and nearly 30 companies to develop technologies and processes that enhance domestic critical material mining and production. The short-term goal is to advance cost-effective, low-waste processing technologies that can be rapidly deployed. The long-term goal is to better understand critical material sources, intermediate states, separation processes and final products to reduce reliance on foreign mining.

“Our aim is to increase the recovery of minerals from both conventional and unconventional sources,” said Aaron Wilson, a chemical scientist at INL. “We want to help industry maximize recovery while minimizing waste and protect American workers and the environment.”

Mining and ore processing

After extraction, rocks undergo beneficiation, a process of crushing and grinding to separate desired materials from waste. These materials are then concentrated for easier transport and treated with heat or chemicals to fully extract and purify them. However, modern processing isn’t always sufficient and often produces significant waste.

“If you look at a copper mine, for example, mine ore only contains about 0.2% copper on the high end,” said McLing. “That means they have to process and throw away 99.8% of the rock to get the 0.2% they want.”

That waste may not be worthless. According to McLing, most processing facilities are designed to extract only one or two materials. Anything of value that requires a different extraction process is often lost or discarded. Building additional processing facilities at mines or sending the materials to other processing facilities might reduce waste and bolster domestic supplies of critical materials.

Compounding the challenge is the diversity of rock types that host critical minerals. Alkaline intrusive rocks, pegmatites and hydrothermally altered rocks are known for containing significant concentrations of critical materials. Each must be processed differently based on its characteristics.

Alkaline-intrusive rocks form when magma cools slowly underground and are rich in alkali metals like sodium and potassium. Pegmatites are igneous rocks with large crystals that often contain lithium and beryllium. Hydrothermally altered rocks have been changed by hot, mineral-rich fluids under high pressure, concentrating metals and minerals that are otherwise difficult to access.

Getting industry to invest in new technologies and processes can be difficult, especially since mining lacks the research capabilities of other resource sectors like oil and gas.

“There are challenges in engaging industry effectively,” said McLing. “But INL is well suited to work with mining companies to make the entire process, from mining to production, more economical and efficient.”

To improve efficiency and safety, INL is pioneering innovative technologies and processes that optimize mining, from extraction to final processing.

Innovations in mining and processing

INL is developing digital tools and robots to characterize ores, manage mining resources and process critical materials. Digital tools use remote sensing, autonomous mining equipment, digital twins and other computational technologies to improve efficiency. INL’s robotics research is advancing systems and sensors that can more effectively separate, process and recover materials.

Another area of focus is critical material extraction. INL is developing advanced analytical instruments capable of detecting and quantifying trace amounts of critical materials in natural water, mine tailings, recycled materials and other sources.

Mineral processing separates valuable materials from waste. Advanced separation techniques further isolate and purify critical materials, ensuring the high purity required for use in consumer electronics, competitive energy systems and national defense.

INL is also advancing a method called leaching, which uses a liquid, usually an acid or base, to separate critical materials from ores, batteries or electronic waste.

Impacts

“INL researchers are inventing the next generation of mining technology,” Wilson said. “Our work will minimize waste, enhance safety and increase recovery rates. We are experienced thought leaders creating the technologies the industry needs.”

INL’s innovative technologies are crucial for securing a reliable domestic supply of critical materials. By tackling mining and ore processing challenges, INL is enhancing the efficiency and sustainability of operations and supporting U.S. economic growth and national security. As these technologies evolve, they will help build a resilient supply chain that underpins America’s technological leadership.

“Critical material extraction is this generation’s moonshot,” said McLing. “We need to solve our supply chain in the next five to seven years. That’s a policy and technical solution to create a friendly supply chain that works for everyone.”